Sumeet was a skilled pilot, polished human being, recalls BJD's Manmath
Bhubaneswar: Sumeet Sabharwal, who was flying the AI-171 flight which crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday killing 241 people on board including him, was a polished human being with the best skills to fly wide-body aircraft, former Air India commercial pilot and BJD member Manmath Routray, who trained under him, said.
Manmath said Sabharwal (56) was planning to retire from flying very soon. Not only did Manmath train under him, but they also flew planes together to far-off destinations — from Asia to Europe and America. "You name it, and we were there together flying to international destinations…Tokyo, Frankfurt, USA, Melbourne. He was the nicest of human beings — conspicuous by his composed and polished behaviour. He weaved magic when he talked, very impressive," he recalled.
"I don't exactly remember the last time we met, but I knew that he was planning to retire. I retired last year. As a pilot, he was loved by the aviation fraternity," Manmath said.
He said Sabharwal taught them live — all takeoffs and landings. "We operated two-commander flights. When I was a first officer in the initial years on a Boeing 777, I worked under him. He was one of the finest pilots. He was one of the sought-after and experienced pilots.
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In terms of an HR requirement, he was the most suited aviation professional. But towards the fag end of his long career, the tragic event occurred," Manmath said.
About the plane crash, Manmath said that investigators need to piece together evidence to find out the errors and not make excuses about sabotage. "In the history of plane crashes, we have been finding margins of error leading to big events. There could be many things.
The nose of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was still up while crashing. The tail portion hit first. So I think, except for the tail, the remainder of the fuselage received the full impact.
With full fuel, a minor spark could result in a ball of flames, and that is what happened," he observed.
"Boeing 787 was an impeccable aircraft with no history of major accidents. It was the most demanded aircraft. I flew it myself for five years. So, the black box and DVR will reveal the truth," he said.
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